Disabled Veterans Service Dog and Health Care Improvement Act of 2001
Latest action · Oct 24, 2001 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedAug 2, 2001
- Passed HouseOct 23, 2001
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
(Sec. 102) Requires maintenance of the capacity to provide for the specialized treatment and rehabilitative needs of disabled veterans in each geographic service area of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Provides separate capacity measurement requirements for: (1) seriously mentally ill veterans; and (2) veterans with spinal cord dysfunction, traumatic brain injury, blindness, or prosthetics and sensory aids. Extends until April 2004 a required annual compliance report from the Secretary to the congressional veterans' committees. Requires each such report to be certified by or commented upon by the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(Sec. 103) Revises the threshold used to determine a veteran's eligibility for health care to reflect locality cost-of-living variations. Prohibits more than a five percent Department resource reallocation after implementation of such revision.
(Sec. 104) Directs the Secretary to assess, and report to Congress on, all special telephone services for veterans provided by the Department.
(Sec. 105) Recodifies certain veterans' health-related authorities.
Directs the Secretary to provide consultation, counseling, training, and mental health services to family members in connection with a veteran receiving treatment for a service-connected disability, and authorizes the Secretary to provide such services in connection with a veteran receiving treatment for a non-service-connected disability. Authorizes related travel and transportation expenses.
Authorizes the Secretary to provide: (1) bereavement counseling to family members of veterans who die in the line of duty or veterans who were participating in a hospice program; and (2) humanitarian hospital or medical care in emergency cases (for a charge).
Extends through FY 2007 the Secretary's authority to charge certain medical care copayments.
(Sec. 107) Directs the Secretary to: (1) evaluate and study the feasibility and desirability of providing a personal emergency response system to veterans who have service-connected disabilities; and (2) report results to the veterans' committees. Allows the Secretary to provide such a system upon a positive evaluation.
Title II: Chiropractic Services - Establishes in the VHA a Chiropractic Service, headed by a Director.
(Sec. 202) Directs the Secretary to establish a program to provide chiropractic care to veterans through all Department medical centers through a gradual implementation process under which all centers offer such care by the end of FY 2006. Requires 30 medical centers to participate initially in such program and requires the program to be carried out through personal service contracts with licensed chiropractors. Requires the chiropractic services provided to include care for neuro-musculoskeletal conditions. Allows a veteran to choose a chiropractor as his or her primary care provider. Directs the Secretary to provide training and chiropractic services information to Department health care providers assigned to primary care teams to familiarize such providers with veterans' chiropractic services benefits. Establishes an advisory committee to review program implementation and requires the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees on such implementation.
Title III: National Commission on VA Nursing - Establishes in the Department the National Commission on VA Nursing to: (1) consider legislative and organizational policy changes to enhance the Department's recruitment and retention of nurses; (2) assess the future of the Department's nursing profession; and (3) report its findings and conclusions to Congress and the Secretary. Requires a report from the Secretary to Congress after the Commission report. Terminates the Commission 90 days after its report.
Cosponsors 12
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Aug 2, 2001 to Oct 11, 2001, with 2 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-NJ | Christopher H. Smith | Original | Aug 2, 2001 |
| R-CT | Rob Simmons | Original | Aug 2, 2001 |
| R-NH | Charles F. Bass | Sep 14, 2001 | |
| D-CA | Bob Filner | Oct 9, 2001 | |
| R-MS | Charles W. "Chip" Pickering | Oct 10, 2001 | |
| R-CA | Howard P. "Buck" McKeon | Oct 10, 2001 | |
| D-IN | Julia Carson | Oct 10, 2001 | |
| R-FL | Michael Bilirakis | Oct 10, 2001 | |
| R-ID | Michael K. Simpson | Oct 10, 2001 | |
| D-NM | Tom Udall | Oct 10, 2001 | |
| R-SD | John Thune | Oct 11, 2001 | |
| D-MS | Ronnie Shows | Oct 11, 2001 |
Actions 18
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Oct 24, 2001Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
- Oct 23, 2001Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H7143-7147)
- Oct 23, 2001DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 2792.
- Oct 23, 2001Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- Oct 23, 2001Mr. Moran (KS) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 3447 | Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs Enhancement Act of 2001 | Related bill | Jan 23, 2002 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security.
- Access to health care
- Ambulatory care
- Animals
- Armed Forces and National Security
- Blind
- Brain
- Chiropractic and chiropractors
- Coinsurance
- Collection of accounts
- Communication in medicine
- Community health services
- Congress
- Congressional reporting requirements
- Cost of living adjustments
- Counseling
- Deaf
- Death
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Disabled
- Disabled veterans
- Dogs
- Drug abuse
- Drug abuse treatment
- Emergency communication systems
- Emergency medical services
- Executive reorganization
- Families
- Federal advisory bodies
- Federal employees
- Federal officials
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government publicity
- Government service contracts
- Head injuries
- Health
- Health counseling
- Hearing disorders
- Hospices (Terminal care)
- Hospital care
- Labor and Employment
- Legislation
- Managed care
- Medical economics
- Mental care facilities
- Mental health services
- Mentally ill
- Nurses
- Nursing
- Nursing homes
- Prosthesis
- Recruiting of employees
- Rehabilitation of the disabled
- Science, Technology, Communications
- Self-help devices for the disabled
- Social Welfare
- Spinal cord injuries
- Surveys
- Survivors' benefits
- Telephone
- Transportation and Public Works
- Travel costs
- Veterans' benefits
- Veterans' hospitals
- Veterans' medical care
- Veterans' rehabilitation
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.